2024 BBQGuys Brand Evolution
Role: Design Lead
Partners: Senior Brand + Creative Director and Copy Lead
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BBQGuys started as “The Grill Store and More,” a brick-and-mortar space in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to an e-commerce destination, the company had several brand evolutions over the years, all leading to becoming ‘BBQGuys’ in 2019.
BBQGuys is the only outdoor living company focused wholly on the outside part (the best part) of your home.
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The aim of the new brand evolution is to move the brand beyond the grill alone and towards being viewed as a larger lifestyle brand that offers the best of everything needed to create the ideal outdoor space.
When people think of their backyard, we want them to think of BBQGuys as the trusted source for all of their outdoor living needs.
The new brand should drive consistency in how we talk about BBQGuys externally and internally and enhance consumer understanding of the brand, solidifying BBQGuys as the obvious choice for anyone with an outdoor space.
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Analyze and identify existing gaps in current BBQGuys brand.
Brand workshop with stakeholders in marketing.
Evolve current brand expression with workshop learnings, business objectives, and market data.
Develop and implement brand guidelines.
Build out supporting materials, templates, and assets to reflect new brand positioning.
This is a snapshot of the previous brand
A lot for the customer to digest and lacked consistency
No clear point of view and lacked brand distinction
Everything was custom-created and lacked systems for automation
New Brand Expression
Informed by our brand strategy, to tell our story in an authentic and compelling way.
Maintains visual cohesion to reinforce our brand belief every step of the way.
Engages all five senses (Hear, Smell, Touch, See, Taste) to appeal to our customers no matter the touchpoint or experience.
Typography
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Greycliff is our sans serif typeface, which is a constant in our brand.
Our most versatile typeface—it’s balanced, easy to read, and its rounded nature reflects the best part of life: the backyard. Greycliff offers a variety of weights and usage just like the range of products we offer for every backyard.
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Rationalist is our serif typeface, it adds humanity to our brand and is used for more expressive moments. Moments that we want to call at any stage of building your backyard. We are here to celebrate all the big and small moments of our customer’s backyard journey.
Rationalist is confident and approachable—sacrificing neither quality or function because we stand behind everything we do (and offer).
Color Pallete
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The primary palette represents who we are: the outdoor living experts™.
The primary palette focuses on neutrals of the backyard to highlight our Signature Orange in an elevated composition. Soft Stone and Ivory is our backbone and these colors should appear in all activations with the presence of our Signature Orange in either text or our identity.
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Our secondary colors represents where we are: the backyard.
The secondary palette is fresh and inviting. It is informed by the colors of every backyard.
The set of colors provides moments of vibrancy and balance that evolves with seasonal trends and major brand events.
Photography
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Brand POV: We believe that outdoor living spaces are where the best part of life happens.
Our lifestyle photography focuses on the togetherness and happiness of a room without walls. Groups of people are captured in moments that is warm and happy—it should never feel staged. The story that the image expresses should be the primary focus of the image.
Motivation: Community—real and authentic spaces
Focus on: Storytelling
Mood: Warm, happy, authentic, welcoming
Examples of moments: Sharing a meal, taking a photo, and play (dancing, eating, celebrating, laughing)
Things to consider: Diversity (age, race, culture, gender, body type, and beyond), product inclusion, and environments
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Brand POV: Life is better in your backyard™.
Our portrait photography focuses on individuals and the emotions they feel in their backyard. It captures the moments of excitement, relaxation, or contentedness they experience in their natural environments.
The primary focus should always be the human emotion. The imagery should evoke real and relatable feelings that is genuine and authentic.
Motivation: Real life, relatable outdoor spaces
Focus on: Individuality and emotions
Mood: Light-hearted, candid, real, and bright
Examples of moments: Eating and cooking, and relaxing (reading, sittng, listening to music)
Things to consider: Demeanor, a mix of eye contact, environments, and crops to allow plenty of space around the subjects.
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Brand POV: We are experts in identifying, pricing, and featuring items that are better than the competition. The best life deserves the best products.
Our product environmental photography is clean and clearly features the products that we offer in an environment—the backyard. It can feature humans interacting with our products but should not be the primary focus.
The backyard should be well lit and not cluttered. Imagery should be approachable, yet inspirational
Motivation: Product showcase
Focus on: Environments and styling—it should be true to the setting while showcasing the diverse backyards we cater to
Mood: Approachable and inviting
Things to consider: Try not to showcase a singluar product but multiple products when possible
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Brand POV: We believe in quality and only sell top-tier products vetted through our expert ratings and reviews.
Our product close-ups clearly captures the quality and detail of our products. Images should be hi-res and coupled with our product environmental photography. It should never stand alone without context.
Motivation: Product quality
Focus on: Crops, textures, tones, and crops
